Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was born 300 years ago as the fifth child of Maria Barbara and Johann Sebastian Bach. J.S. Bach trained his son to be an ace keyboardist and composer, and by his early 20s, he landed a prestigious position in Berlin as court harpsichordist for Frederick the Great. His keyboard skills were legendary, and his orchestral works did his father proud as well. Authoritative interpreters including Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert perform this wide-ranging collection of symphonies, concertos, and vocal works—including the Symphonies for Strings, the Fantasia in C major for Fortepiano, and the Sonata for 2 Harpsichords in F Major—by the great forerunner of Hayden and Mozart.

"Mozart was a passionate admirer in the late 18th century, as was Brahms in the late 19th, but it wasn't until the latter half of the 20th century that CPE Bach gained widespread recognition as one of the greatest composers of his (or any) time."—Composer's Datebook, American Public Media

"Musical history has unjustly sidelined a figure who once enjoyed the highest reputation of all the Bachs. But, at last, his tercentenary year seems to be giving us the opportunity for re-evaluation.... His output is full of effervescent and exhilarating music. Some of it sounds unpredictable even now. It is usually branded as belonging to the preclassical period, which needs to be understood not as a precursor of Classicism but as a movement in its own right."—The Telegraph